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Law reform

Amid announcements by the religious forces in the country to resist any move to change the blasphemy laws, former information minister and Pakistan People’s Party MNA Sherry Rehman has submitted a bill to the National Assembly Secretariat seeking an end to the death penalty under the existing blasphemy laws.

When a record 101 women won seats in Indonesia's House of Representatives in the 2009 election, development groups said it was proof that the world's largest Muslim nation was ready to back female politicians and a gender quota system that the country had recently rejected wasn't in fact needed.

Since the enactment of Indonesia's pornography law No. 44 year 2008, therefore we, from Women’s activists coalition of South Sulawesi rejected the bill and urged the government to withdraw the law. Our legal effort that we have done by doing a judicial review of this pornography act was rejected by the constitutional court. Update on Indonesia: Law’s definition of pornography open to multiple interpretations

The controversial Family Protection bill was dealt a blow at the Islamic parliament today as one of its articles outlining legal registration of "temporary marriages" was voted down. ILNA reports that Article 21 of the new bill failed to pass through the parliament with only 45 votes in favour of it. The article was one of the points women’s rights activists objected to in the so-called Family Protection bill.

The High Court has ruled that no women can be forced to wear burqa at work and educational institutions. The bench of justices A H M Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Sheikh Mohammad Zakir Hossain also ruled that they cannot be barred from taking to culture and sports. The orders came in the wake of a public interest petition filed by Supreme Court lawyers Mahbub Shafi and A K M Hafizul Alam on Sunday.

BAHRAINI women are losing battles in court due to a lack of awareness of their rights, according to a leading social worker. Their ignorance about Sharia law often allows cases to be ruled in favour of their husbands, said Bahrain Women Union (BWU) family counsellor Hanan Abdulla. "Due to them not knowing the laws and legislation regarding family matters, they become hopeless in front judges at Sharia Courts," she said. "This leads them to lose their cases, even though they could have easily won if they were more aware of their rights." Ms Abdulla is trying to turn the situation around working at the BWU's legal department to give women advice and counselling on domestic cases.